Intro to Backcountry Touring
Mount Baker - Snoqualmie Pass - Stevens Pass | WashingtonIntro to Backcountry Touring
- Mountaineering School
- Pack Weight: 25 lbs.
- 2 Days
- Gallery
- Dates & Pricing
In the Alpine Ascents Intro to Touring course, students spend two full field days learning and applying the essential skills for backcountry travel. From utilizing the morning the avalanche forecast, to planning a tour tour, to skinning efficiently uphill, we cover the key fundamentals to earn your turns in the backcountry. Throughout the course, we integrate avalanche hazard recognition into the equation of having a fun day of backcountry skiing and snowboarding.
The Intro to Touring course serves as a companion to the AIARE 1 Avalanche Safety course, and should not be considered a replacement to avalanche education.
Course Highlights
Decades of Experience: 30+ years of experience leading courses throughout the Pacific Northwest
Expert Guides: Courses led by AMGA ski trained guides
Guide Ratio: 4:1 student to instructor ratio
Hands-on Instruction: Features avalanche companion rescue, avalanche awareness, and techniques for uphill travel
Trip Planning: Introduces skills for effective tour planning and travelling through avalanche terrain
Varied Terrain: Multiple venue locations across the Cascades
Women’s Programs: Women’s-only courses available in partnership with SheJumps
Gear Support: Full-service gear department for equipment questions, consultations, and avalanche safety gear rentals
This course improved my backcountry confidence by 200%
We worked as a team to make observations and refine our tour plan when conditions changed. By the end of it I felt capable and decisive travelling in terrain I would have previously ruled out as too advanced.
The SheJumps Intro to Touring course was an incredible
way to meet and collaborate with a group of rad female skiers. We each took turns leading the group up and down through all kinds of snow conditions, getting real-time course corrections from our guide. If you have the chance to take a course with Lyra, you can’t afford to skip it!
Learning Objectives
This course, best paired with avalanche education, focuses on actual skiing! Learn how to plan tours, set skin tracks, find the best powder stashes, and other skills to build confidence off-piste.
- Plan for travel utilizing avalanche forecasts, weather forecasts, maps, and other resources
- Apply the avalanche forecast and danger rating to terrain in the field
- Read terrain and find the best snow conditions and common avalanche trigger points
- Analyze terrain (slope angle, aspect, terrain hazards)
- Develop uphill travel techniques including skinning, track setting, and kick turning
- Hone downhill movement skills for powder skiing, navigate challenging snow conditions
- Increase efficiency in transitions between uphill and downhill travel
- Plan a backcountry descent with team members
- Use beacon, shovel, and probe in avalanche rescue scenarios
- Practice self-care and layering in the winter backcountry environment
Make the most of your backcountry education this winter by bundling our Intro to Backcountry Touring with AIARE Level 1 Avalanche Safety for $1,085! Save $200 with this deal and enrich your Intro to Touring course with the gold standard in avalanche safety. In combination with Intro to Backcountry Touring, the Level 1 Avalanche Course introduces all the necessary skills to travel in simple to challenging backcountry terrain with team members of equal or greater training.
Mount Baker
Mt. Baker (10,781 ft), the highest point of the North Cascades, is a heavily glaciated dormant volcano. The twelve active glaciers of Mt. Baker cover an area exceeding 20 square miles. Mt. Baker is unique in its great mass of snow and ice and easy accessibility. This combination creates a perfect training ground for backcountry skiing and riding.
- Setting the world record for recorded snowfall in a single season (1,140′ in 1999), Mt. Baker remains one of the snowiest spots in the Pacific Northwest and the world
- The Heather Meadows area offers prime ski tours for skiers/riders of all ability levels, from wide bowls, to tight trees
Snoqualmie Pass
Snoqualmie Pass (3,100 ft), is located less than an hour from Seattle and offers a convenient escape from the city. A combination of high snowfall, easy accessibility, and desirable slopes and epic couloirs make Snoqualmie Pass one of the best zones in Washington and exceedingly popular with backcountry travelers of all experience levels.
- The roadside ski tours around Snoqualmie Pass and beyond are unusually steep and access excellent terrain
- Many consider Snoqualmie Pass to be one of the densest ski touring areas in the country by pure volume of runs
Stevens Pass
Stevens Pass (4,062 ft) is set deep within the Cascade Mountains off of Highway 2. This zone is known for deep powder and phenomenal tree skiing. Alpine terrain hidden high above the tree line offers skiers of all abilities a playground that has everything from large open bowls to steep narrow couloirs. Convenient roadside access provides an easy entry to sustained long vertical ski runs and the some of the highest quality snow in the state.
- Yodelin, a retired ski area just northeast of Stevens Pass, is a favorite zone featuring open glades and liberally spaced trees
- The Stevens Pass backcountry area has a convenient and short approach
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Local Impact
Alpine Ascents maintains close ties with the Northwest Avalanche Center ‘NWAC’. We firmly believe in NWAC’s mission to equip our community and reduce the impact of Avalanches. As a supporting sponsor, you’ll find Alpine Ascents hosting ski education days with NWAC, collaborating on NWAC Avalanche awareness webinars, and contributing in-kind donations each year. Many of our guides and instructors also work with NWAC.
